Monday, November 3, 2008

Crab Legs

The tune "We've Got Crab Legs" kept running through my head as I tried to recall which restaurant had used that jingle in their ads. Given crab legs by a friend and put in his freezer, they now were on their way home with me. I considered various recipes while driving up Interstate 5, finally deciding on quiche.

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Shelling the crab.

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Making the crust.

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Making the filling.

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A nice break from the wind and rain of the last couple of days this afternoon prompted me to put the leash on Torrie and head out for a walk while the quiche baked. It seemed that there are almost more leaves on the ground now than up on the trees, yet the fall colors still so glorious.

~~~~~More color seen along our walk.

~~~~~Baking and serving.

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Really Rose Crab Leg Quiche

Filling

2 Cups Shelled Crab Meat

1 Large Red Onion

1 Cup Shredded Swiss Cheese

4 Eggs

2 Cups Half-n-Half

Lemon Pepper

Crust

1 Cup Flour

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

3/8 Cup Crisco Shortening

3 Tablespoons Cold Water

Make the crust by combining the flour, salt and shortening in a small bowl and blending with a pastry blender until mixture is the texture of fine crumbs. Make a well in the middle and sprinkle in the water, one tablespoon at a time, blending well with a fork after each addition. When the mixture forms a ball, remove from the bowl and shape into a round, flatten and roll out on a lightly floured surface until it is two inches larger than the diameter of the pie pan. Carefully fold the rolled out dough in half, then into quarters. Gently pick up the folded up dough and carefully place it into the pie pan. Unfold the dough and mold it into the pie pan. Turn the edge over and flute. Trim off any excess pieces of dough.

Make the quiche filling by scattering the shelled crab pieces over the bottom of the pie crust. Dice the red onion and scatter the onion pieces on top of the crab meat. Crack a generous amount of lemon pepper over the onions and crab meat. Grate the Swiss cheese and spread the grated cheese over the ingredients already in the pie crust. Crack the eggs into a small bowl and whip with a wisk until frothy. Pour in the half-n-half and whip with the wisk until very well blended. Pour the egg and half-n-half mixture over the ingredients in the pie crust. Place in the center of a preheated 350 F degree oven and bake for approximatly one hour. The quiche will be golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center will come out clean when it is done. Remove from the oven and cool slightly on a wire rack. Cut into pie-shaped wedges and serve. Left over quiche freezes well and can easily be reheated in the microwave

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Doubling my recipe, I made two pans of quiche today as there was almost four cups of crab meat once I had it all shelled. There are lots of pieces to share with plenty left for my freezer.